Already one of the more singular blockbusters of recent years, George Miller’s gonzo revival of Mad Max might have been even more atypical had the director been permitted to press forward with his original idea of filming it in black and white. Of course, studio financial imperatives meant that notion that was never truly a goer, but a version was released on DVD last year and now appears in cinemas.
For the most part, its central conceit works remarkably well – the strikingly pale pates of the film’s antagonist War Boys show up particularly well in monochrome, while the many explosions take on a more elegant quality when deprived of colour. There are a few occasions when the quick-cut action becomes difficult to follow in black and white, but this is otherwise an intriguing counterpoint to an idiosyncratic minor masterpiece.
